“There are no divots on the fairway and no pitch marks on the green” said University of Oregon golfer Tong An to Golf Channel, minutes after she set a course record with a 8-under day totaling a score of 64. 

The course in conversation is Halbert National at Camp David, a 7,542-yard course 40 miles outside of Fort Worth in Granbury. The course sits on the banks of the Brazos River with views of the popular boating spot, the calling card of much of the back nine. 

The creation of the course goes back to the early 2000s when the namesake, David D. Halbert, purchased land on Lake Granbury to build a family lakehouse. Halbert, an ACU alum, decided to purchase the corresponding land across the river as well, not for any particular reason at the time.

As time passed, the Halbert family made the decision to utilize that land to build a golf course across the river from their home, but this wouldn’t be just another golf course. Halbert made a call to Tom Fazio, the founder and owner of Fazio Design, a company that prides itself in designing some of the nicest golf courses in the world, including numerous PGA courses.  

Halbert essentially gave Fazio a ‘blind-check’ and made his goal clear: “Make the most beautiful golf course in Texas.” According to an interview with Forbes, Halbert spent an estimated $50 million to make his dream become reality. The now-completed course has many distinguishing features that show the case it has among the best courses in Texas, but most will never see it. 

“If you don’t have a hole named after you then you’re not a member,” Halbert told Forbes last year, shortly after the 185-acre project was completed. Of the 18 immediate family members, each has a nicknamed hole dedicated to them.

The story goes that Halbert’s wife Kathy, who is also an Abilene Christian alum, wanted a place where she could golf in private, thinking that a simple one-hole par three would suffice, similar to what some professional athletes have added to their portfolios. David Halbert had different plans. 

Last week, members of various Division I golf programs attended the Abilene Christian Intercollegiate Tournament, hosted by ACU in collaboration with Halbert National. Family and friends of the collegiate golfers, members of the media, volunteers and personal invites from the Halbert family were the only patrons in attendance. 

Drone shots throughout the week from Golf Channel showed the truly beautiful landscape, complemented by the corresponding river. 

Designer Tom Fazio has a graphic on his website that shows the before and after transformation of the desolate land into what they hope will become an iconic golf course. Fazio utilized a strong landscaping blend of botany and aquatic elements that sit within the requirements of being a Championship golf course. Halbert National is grassed with TifEagle greens and Zoysia fairways.

Collegiate golfers are the first to play in a televised official tournament on the acreage, but PGA professionals have been invited to try their hand at the newest Lone Star Challenge. Texas native Jordan Spieth played the course earlier this year as he filmed a commercial for Halbert’s company, Caris Life Sciences. Caris is a personalized health sciences company that is valued at $9 billion.

Three-time major champion Jordan Spieth knows golf runs on data: ball speed, launch angle, spin rate, and AI that has analyzed millions of swings.

So why not use that same intelligence for something that means everything, your health?

Caris Detect™ is a multi-cancer early detection test that analyzes your entire genome and transcriptome from a single blood draw. Powered by AI trained on more than 50 billion molecular markers from over 1 million patient cases; it helps find cancer early when treatment is most effective.
Some things in life aren’t a game.

Stop waiting. Know early.

Get the test at https://t.co/tTtKtnq53f.

— Caris Life Sciences (@carisls) October 19, 2026

The hope is that ACU and Halbert National will continue their partnership for years to come. Halbert already has plans to continue developing the area. With some of the most talented collegiate programs attending in year one the expectation is that this tournament will become one of the most prestigious in the fall season each year for both the men’s and women’s schedule.